Apple has introduced a new way to buy multiple apps at one time in iOS 8. Called “Bundles,” the feature currently offers multiple paid apps in one download at a discount, but it has potential to do more.

As some app development teams race to include as many new features in their navigation apps as they can, others are creating complementary features outside those same apps. Perhaps there is no ‘one’ best solution anymore.

Google continues to excel on Apple’s own platform by going native on iOS with its online services. Not to be outdone, the likes of Microsoft and Yahoo are closing in while AOL continues to find itself.

As of Thursday morning, out of the 15 services used by developers Apple showed that two of them were functional. By Friday evening, iOS, Mac and Safari Dev Centers returned, but there’s still more work for Apple to do.

Bucking iOS pricing and design trends, Algoriddim releases follow-up to Djay app for iPhone and iPad. Djay 2 is an upgrade you have to pay for, but the good news is that it’s cheaper than the original.

The race to perfect the modern, social calendar continues with a new entrant: UpTo, an app launched in early 2012 as a social network for activities. Now it’s relaunching as a calendar to keep all appointments and social activities in one place.

Foresee combines multiple sources of data and turns your iPhone into a device that anticipates what you want and helps you accomplish things: in this case, grilling, gardening, mowing the lawn or any other activity.

France’s minister of digital economy is speaking up for Paris-based AppGratis, which was kicked out of the iOS App Store for recent rule violations. She called Apple’s decision “brutal” and implied Apple was behaving unethically, according to accounts of her comments.

The two men behind Fantastical are, in many ways, very different from each other: they work on opposite coasts and graduated college decades apart. But their laser focus and exacting standards are a good match when it comes to building great iOS and Mac software.

Apple releases iOS app sales stats from a pretty impressive holiday sales month. Plus, the company gives a broader status update about the health of its App Store: there are now 775,000 apps for sale for iOS devices.

Mobile app downloads over the week from Christmas to New Year’s Eve increased to 1.76 billion, up from 1.2 billion a year ago. It’s also a significant spike over the 1.07 billion weekly average recorded earlier in December.

The selection of these apps as best of the year demonstrate the growing sophistication of what developers are making for iPhone and iPad. A glance at the top paid apps also shows that games are somewhat loosening their grip on their “most popular” status.

The iPad may be an unexpected platform for making art with paper, but the folks at Pixle are betting there are people who want to use their iPad for creation. That’s why they made Foldify, a simple, easy-to-use app for creating papercraft art.

iOS developer scourge Lodsys offers an update on the state of its attempts to wield an in-app purchasing patent against app makers. The company says that it has “every confidence that all claims will ultimately be confirmed through this lengthy process.”

Operating on the theory that there are better ways to find great iOS apps than skimming the “top downloaded” lists on the App Store, Appsfire has published its first-ever alternative rankings that highlight the best apps, not just the ones with the highest download count.

The Russian hacker says there’s no jailbreak involved. Instead, he’s done it by installing two certificates and changing the phone’s Wi-Fi settings. In the demonstration video, he’s using iOS 6 and an iPhone 4S and claims the project is in its early stages.

While many Americans were celebrating Independence Day, some iOS developers began receiving loads of complaints and bad reviews about recently updated apps suddenly crashing upon launch. Apple has yet to explain to users or clue their developers in on what happened.

You’ve got snacks, playlists and a full gas tank. But what about apps? Assuming you’ve also packed your iPhone, here are 25 that will ensure an easier trip — for packing, finding the cheapest gas and the closest Wi-Fi, knowing the weather on your route and more.

Who would have thought you can do that with an iPad: Algoriddim’s new vjay app makes it possible to mix two music videos in real time, complete with loops, effects, beat matching, instantaneous exporting of clips and everything else that makes your inner DJ smile.

It’s been reported the next iPhone will have a larger screen. We talked to iOS app makers about the implications that move would have on future iOS development. Many are not convinced Apple would complicate the current development process intentionally by adding additional screen sizes.

Facebook is gearing up to take advantage of the mobile web and put itself at the head of a growing web app ecosystem. Today, it announced a set of initiatives that should help standardize mobile web browsers and enable better payments in mobile web apps.

WillCall is now available for download, with a few acts already lined up. The coolest part of WillCall — besides enabling poor planners and procrastinators of the world — is its attempt to capture the inherently social nature of concert-going within the app.

Which apps were the best rated and most buzzed about in 2011? That’s a question that app rating analytics firm Mobilewalla tackled, coming up with a list of the top five paid and free apps on four of the biggest mobile platforms.

Facebook’s new Timeline user interface is now available pretty much everywhere — including on mobile devices.Just a few hours after announcing worldwide availability of the new Timeline profile interface, Facebook on Thursday launched Timeline on its mobile Android app and on its mobile website, m.facebook.com.

Xamarin, the company born earlier this year when Novell laid off the entire workforce dedicated to maintaining Mono, the open-source implementation of Microsoft’s .NET development framework, was up against big odds. But at just seven months old, Xamarin is now profitable without VC backing.

A small Midwestern startup is rethinking the way we use web search on our phones by tweaking the now-standard Google layout. Their solution: a mobile app called Leap2, which is set to launch Tuesday in the iOS App Store. It’s initially for the iPhone only.

HipGeo aims to put all details related to your travel — photos, check-ins, comments — in one place with an app that passively keeps track of your movements. Afterward, you can easily create a slick, animated travel diary. Here’s what I found when I used it on a cross-country trip.

Pandora jailbroke an iPhone to get an early start on development for Apple’s iOS platform, the company’s CTO Tom Conrad revealed at Mobilize 2011 on Monday. These days, Conrad is equally excited about HTML5 and the impact it will have on connected devices.

Ness has launched its debut iOS app, a “personal search engine” that aims to provide highly personalized restaurant recommendations. Essentially it’s like a Pandora for restaurants: From the start it’s almost creepily accurate with its recommendations, and the more you use it, the better it gets.